Front Porch Light
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: Listen to Light On by David Cook Harry and Hermione have secretly liked each other for years. Now with the brink of the war on them, how will they handle their unsolved and hidden feelings?


Chapter One

Hermione ran after him as he stormed around the house in a nervous rage. Ever since Sirius' death, Harry had always been acting as if war was coming at any moment. Also, as a result, Ron and Hermione had not been allowed to fight at all anymore, as were many of the order members as well. Dumbledore did his best to respect Harry's wishes to not let anyone he held dear to him fight, but there wasn't much Dumbledore could do.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled. "Harry, come back here, please!" She had tears falling frantically down her face, thoughts flying through her head.

"_Merlin, why can't I just say something? Why can't I have the guts to say that I love him when I can have the courage to fight beside him in every battle we've had!" _Hermione mentally yelled at herself.

"Hermione, for the millionth time, I'm not letting you come with me! After Sir…he died, I'm not taking the chance at anyone else I care for getting hurt! Especially you…or Ron!" he added a few seconds later, but barely noticed by Hermione.

"Harry, just listen to me. There are no words to express how much you just need me and you know it! We've been through all of this together from the beginning even when you and Ron thought I was an annoying know-it-all! You can't just leave me out of this!" she said, her anger getting the best of her.

Harry stopped, sighing, as he ran his hand through his hair. He bowed his head before he spoke again.

"Hermione, this may very well be the end of this and we all can have normal lives again and, for some of us, this may be our first chance at a normal life. You of all people should know how much I want that!" His head snapped up as he turned to look at her.

She realized that he had been crying; the red tear stains that ran down his cheeks almost made him look like a fallen angel. She sobbed once more at the sight of his face, hiccupping a bit.

He almost cracked a smile at her, before the tears started falling again. He turned and walked over to her and put both hands on each side of her face, brushing away the tears with his thumbs.

"Hermione, I want you to look at me, just look at me. This is almost over, 'Mione! Please, just let me finish this!" he said, as he started crying himself.

"Harry, I…" she stuttered.

"No Hermione," he said, before she got the chance to weaken him anymore. He couldn't let her get hurt, he loved her too much.

"_Damn it, stop it Potter! You can't feel that way! She'll get hurt!"_

"_But you can't help it!"_

"_I better!"_

"Just do something for me," Harry finally said, ignoring the voice in the back of his head.

"Anything!" Hermione said, more tears leaking from her eyes.

"Be here, when I get home."

Hermione bawled more than anything. She pulled Harry into her embrace, burying her head in the crook of his neck. She nodded her head frantically, her tears straining his shirt.

The two of them stood just like that for so long it seemed as if it was eternity. Harry finally gently pulled away from Hermione; her arms falling from him like noodles.

"I'm going to be fine, 'Mione. It's nothing I haven't done before," Harry said, his hands back on the side of her face. "But I need to go." His hands fell from her face as he turned towards the door.

He paused when Hermione spoke up.

"Good luck."

One last tear fell from Harry's eye as he heard Hermione speak those words. "Hermione, you don't know how much that means to me. Your luck is all I need."

With one step, he had the door open and was outside, getting ready to close it behind him.

Once completely outside, he closed the door behind him.

Hermione fell against the railing, more tears falling. She couldn't believe she had let him, but she had to do something. She jumped up and threw the door open just in time to stop Harry from apparating away. She jumped down the few steps and ran over to him. Throwing herself on him and her arms around his neck, she crashed her lips to his, melting them both into a kiss of pure passion.

Harry pulled away with all the will that he could muster. "Hermione…" was all he could say before he tilted his head the other way to kiss her back.

Just as Harry was pulling away to leave, Hermione muttered, "I'll leave the light on when you get home."


End file.
